has never been more available it's a constant barrage that they put every day but the messages simply state you have been praying that good logical rational. and misinformation is right for dismissal and does not well documented accusations and evidence is part of genocide the listening post provides a critical counterpoint to challenging mainstream media narratives at this time on al-jazeera. this role iran and its syrian post responsible for today's aggression. and israeli fighter jets is a raid targeting iranian assets in syria. well

again i'm peter w. watching al-jazeera live from our headquarters here in doha also coming up the talks on the sidelines of the winter olympics south korea's leader is invited to visit the north. results in the sri lankan elections for the record number of women expected to take civil government. as a huge street party where people can figure out their economic and political woes were in brazil with the country's carnival is in full swing. the u.n. secretary general and tony good terrorists has called for an immediate and unconditional deescalation in syria after a series of cross border air raids by israel targeting iranian and syrian government forces is believed to be israel's most significant attack against syria

since one thousand nine hundred two it all began when israel says it intercepted an iranian drone flying in its airspace israel alleges the drone came from syria it responded with a major air raid in syrian territory targeting what it claims were iranian bases on the way back from the mission is ready jets came under syrian anti-aircraft fire leading to the downing of one of its f. sixteen s israeli jets then launched another cross border air raid hitting twelve syrian government and iranian targets it's believed to be israel's most significant attack against syria since one thousand nine hundred eighty two imran khan reports now from west jerusalem. in the early hours of saturday morning syria's war escalated to a new level for the first time in thirty years israel lost a fighter jet to enemy fire as israel confirmed syrian air defense shot at one of its f. sixteen fighter jets these really ply minister was blunt israel iran and its syrian coast responsible for today's aggression we will continue to do whatever is

necessary to protect our sovereignty and our security the crash followed the shooting down of a drone israeli army video shows what they say is the iranian drone flying towards the northern golan heights before it was downed in retaliation the israeli air force at targets in syria including the suspected drone command center iranian targets and syrian air defense syria launch surface to air missiles during the israeli raid and says it shot down the f. sixteen which crashed in northern israel yes you who are at the heart of. the syrian political leadership took a decision at the highest level to face decisively any israeli military aircraft over therion in space today serious. did what it promised by down in this rally plain and striking at other planes this is clear for syria it is the decisive decision to confront the israeli air force and its careless behavior. both pilots ejected and parachuted to the israeli side of the border one is critically injured

the israeli army spokesman said it was wrong it was behind the launch of the drone but didn't say whether it was armed or not the iranians have reacted they've said that they are going to stand with syria against any felician us by israel the russians have also reacted saying that israel needs to respect syrian state to state sovereignty also what we're hearing is that the israelis want to send a strong message to the russians to get iran out of the region iran can al-jazeera western islam and soon bus ravi has more now on the reaction to the incident from the iranian capital tehran iran's foreign ministry said that the assertion that iran would fly a drone into israeli airspace is a ridiculous lie but iranian leaders celebrated serious retaliatory response to israeli airstrikes speaking to all jazeera the parliamentary spokesman on national security and foreign policy said that the downing of a fighter plane was just

a taste of what is to come if israel continues its aggressive policies. this shooting down in confrontation has some important messages first to design this regime should know that the era of hit and run tactics is gone and regional powers including syria lebanon and hezbollah have enough capabilities to confront aggression and these capabilities belong to these countries the zionist regime should not associate these capabilities with iran or other countries they are saying that an iranian drone shot down the warplane or an iranian military force did it this is a distortion to divert public opinion. with so many different actors in the syrian conflict with often simultaneously converging and diverging agendas there is always a worry that an incident like this could open another front in the fighting speaking at a news conference president hassan rouhani said that israel's policy of bombardment is a mistake and that while iran is prepared to defend itself and its allies in the region

he said that the best way for neighbors to get along is to cooperate earlier i spoke about south of his events with the president of the national iranian american council trita parsi first where the american you face in the syrian civil war i think it's important to keep in mind this is not the first time that there's been an iranian drone that either has gone into israeli territory or been very close by nor is it unusual that there have been israeli drones going into iranian territory flying from various different places as well as israeli assassination of the iranian scientists so there has been a degree war going on between the two countries for quite some time the question if this is now escalating to a completely new level and part of the challenge here again goes back to that there are no powers with the potential exception of russia that has enough power in and of itself and the capacity to talk to both the iranians entities the israelis in order to deescalate under previous circumstances united states might have had

a stronger capacity to do so even though it didn't have much connections to the iranians where right now the united states is not really in a position to do that much and that is further making the situation explosive. also in syria the u.n. says two hundred thirty civilians have been killed by syrian and russian air strikes in the past week the un commissioner for human rights described it as some of the worst violence during the almost seven year long conflicts a drug all hussein says the strikes me also constitute war crimes he confirmed his office had received reports of the possible use of toxic agents earlier this month in the rebel held town of. a turkish military helicopter has been shot down in the north and syria during an operation against kurdish fighters this video is said to show the helicopter moments before it was hit near three and killing two soldiers on board kurdish led syrian democratic forces say its fight says shut down the

aircraft but turkey says the cause is still unclear a total of eleven turkish soldiers were killed in the fighting on saturday making it the deadliest day for the country's forces since they began the campaign in africa last month jamal sheil is in gas and new turkey's border with syria. the downing of this turkish manufactured attack helicopter that was killed through this is a significant development in this three week long military operation that brings the number of talk to soldiers killed by the y.p. g. kurdish militia group through over twenty years far as the turks are concerned they've killed at least one hundred fifty kurdish fighters now some advances have been made on the ground in the past twenty four forty eight hours the free syrian army which is fighting alongside turkish military in order to advance towards the y p g project from hold of our free and i have managed to capture some villagers on the road towards there as far as the turkish army is concerned and listening to

president saddam tape around they will respond they think to go through we're behind that attack what's important to note here is that although the. kurdish authorities in. why p.g. claim that the turkish ministry has killed civilians in its operation ankara denies that they say the reason why this operation isn't going as fast as they wanted to is precisely because they have been trying to advise any death of innocent civilians that have been reports that the y p g and the p y d that the political wing of that car this militia have actually bus then cards from other towns and cities to use them as human shields the car this officials there with they actually this is just the natural response of the car this population in order to protect their town against what they see as a foreign aggression. three weeks now into operation on

a ranch that does seem as i think to be the advance made by the targets and the free syrian army towards are fine but this downing of a helicopter will be for a touring car the rest of the targets in the true. north koreans olympic delegation has a lunch meeting in seoul with the south korean prime minister the night he owns the group includes the sister of the north korean leader kim jong moon earlyish extended a rare invitation to the south korean president to visit pyongyang and talks on the sidelines of the winter olympics and just going to him has more now from call no one's. in the presidential blue house in the capital seoul relations between the two koreas continued to thaw the meeting had to first kio jiang is the first member of the ruling family to cross into the south since the korean war the sister of the north korean leader came with the first ever invitation kim jong moon is asking south korean president moon jay in to come to pyongyang at a convenient time soon when there's

a new and key. president moon said early talks between north korea and the united states are essential to improve relations here to north korea to be more proactive to move forward to have a dialogue with the united states. it's unclear when that might happen the u.s. and north korea have rebuffed lose attempts so far if an interesting meeting transpires it will be the first time kim jong un has met with the south korean president since assuming power in twenty eleven the last time leaders from the north and south met was eleven years ago during a summit in. jordan because of all the global attention i believe reunification will be brought forth the government is making efforts and i think people are rooting for it organizers of the olympics say they've been moved by the diplomatic breakthrough it was quite on the story

a moment. and something that as you know the i.o.c. has been generally working for since probably two thousand and fourteen. and you know i think it shows it opens opens the door maybe just a little bit critics say they doubt that door will ultimately open much more for now there is hope that the winter olympics is the catalyst for a reboot in intercourse and relations natasha going to aim el jazeera south korea votes are being counted in sri lanka or office most peaceful election for decades since the first vote since electoral laws changed that's a load a record number of women to campaign for a seat in local government in elfin and as has more now from colombo choosing members of three hundred forty two local government institutions observe us a voter turnout was higher than expected some districts reporting eighty five percent. voters had

a clear idea of what they wanted from their local representatives corruption is a big problem so somebody who is less corrupt somebody would say you can't tell and of course somebody with the return can do something for the community another voter said changes to the electoral system has made things easier to. review system do so much more simple system for the water it's a new mixed results system which candidate wins the most votes and which party has the most support the changes also included a quarter of twenty five percent for women this election monks a number of firsts the first time so many women have contested the first time votes are being counted in polling centers like the one behind me and the fust time election violence has been so low observers say there is a marked change in the conduct of campaigns and the election the main election organize a credits hard work main thing is real if you care good the people not

to break the law through the law enforcement the law really. conduct a pretty good. despite being a local election which is usually about issues in local neighborhoods the campaign took on the flavor of a national election prison might to polish city cena prime minister i know became a singer and the man they united to defeat by in the rajapaksa were heavily involved in the campaign travelling around the country to support their respective candidates the stakes for each of them are high and the results of this grassroots race will point towards the political board in the run up to the general election in two years and in el joins us live from the capital city colombo how close are we to the final results. peter

we're hearing that many of the results have been counted but there's still a last minute tallying there obviously a process of sort of carry frank things where there are results challenge accounts challenge and that is happening but fairly shortly we should be hearing a full picture peter what are the main implications for the central government everything. the government is having a real reality check if we can describe it as such peter essentially it's three since they took control of the national government two parties two main parties coming together that of the president by policy center and the prime minister. to form a coalition government they got together to dispose the previous president mahinda rajapaksa and he is very much him that is responsible for this huge victory for the sri lanka put the john a parable in a political front that he put together to challenge the mainstream parties of the

other two outside the party headquarters of that new political front of front that so far the results indicate have done really well given that it is challenging the stream the all the guard of political parties but a reflection of how people have become sort of discontent with the government which they voted in on promises that they would bring political change that they would do away with corruption and all of those things but that disappointment reflecting in the way the voters have cast their ballot and those results just filtering out today peter to start old god did you talk about them and feel threatened by this move or was it just a new reordering of the natural order of things there. pretty much peter in the sense the threat will start sinking in shortly i mean the

current government very much a coalition sort of a force as i told you before so different parties trying to come together pull together we've seen the cracks appearing over the last couple of sort of months as you know these two. kind of political parties try to come together and now this new front it's not a new political front it is very much the old faces the former president mahinda rajapaksa very much leading the campaign from the front very much centered on his sort of cult of his personality the mind that rajapaksa factor now the irony is that the rajapaksa still remains a member of the sri lanka freedom party which is the party of the president but he's lent his name his face and his popularity which is still a force to be reckoned with to this new political front which set itself up to challenge the coalition government of the other two so what they're saying is three

years ago you know there was a message they've come back now they reorganize this is that this is very much a wake up call that the people have spoken this is very much to be remembered that it's a local government election so it's about grassroots institutions and things like that but it is also a pointer to it is a way of a momentum that can begin politics is a strange thing but you know this is a start of a momentum which i'm sure this new political front as they say are very keen to capitalize on and move forward towards the national elections in two years time peter thanks very much. plus more still to come for your analysis here including these ones thousands marching against racism in the italian city where african migrants were shot. and the philippines president pushes to change the constitution critics say it's a power grab. and

i there is still quite cold for many of us in the southeast in parts of china the temperatures in shanghai during the day all too bad they're getting to around seven or nine degrees but at night they're still dropping below freezing so certainly feeling very cool for us for the south and for hong kong will be around nineteen generally there's not a great deal of cloud around the coast there but head down towards the philippines this formal cloud here on monday that's thanks to an approaching storm so we keeping a close eye on not over the next few days that's not going to reach us until choose day though so for the time being it's actually been quite quiet across the philippines is the far more clout further south borneo and across job wrong all the way here and plenty more rain still to come as we head through the next couple of days towards the west well it's largely quite quiet weather wise here stretching from thailand all the way down through k.l. and singapore that's a good chance of seeing plenty of dry weather over the next few days as we head

across towards india you can see the cloud is snaking its way across bangladesh and into nepal that's not really giving us a very active weather it's just been high cloud mostly we're seeing some more active weather work its way across the northern parts now this across the northern parts of india it is giving us some heavy snow more still to come as we head into monday. it was oil upon which modern day venezuela was a stoppage. for over a century this lucrative results has divided the people both less than with the world's largest reserves charting the impact of industrialization and the legacies of its prominent leaders we shed light on the troubles afflicting venezuela today the big picture the battle for venezuela at this time on al-jazeera.

welcome back you're with al jazeera live from the heart your headlines israel says it responded to the dining of one of his aircraft by syrian government forces with its most significant attack on syria for decades the strikes targeted government sites and alleged iranian assets inside syria the un secretary general has called for an immediate deescalation north korea's olympic delegation has had a lunch meeting in seoul with the south korean prime minister. the group includes the sister of the north korean leader kim jong il and on saturday she extended a rare invitation to the south korean president to visit pyongyang talks on the sidelines of the winter games has been counted in sri lanka as most peaceful

election for decades as the first votes in select the laws were changed allowing a record number of women to campaign for seats in local government. now thousands of anti fascist protesters have rallied in the italian city of much of six africans were injured in a drive by shooting a week ago protesters warned against a revival of neo fascist sentiment during the campaign for next month's national election his poll to judge him. shouting color is not a crime thousands rallied in italy against racism and fascism rallies took place in rome milan palermo and here the town of muscle radha where a gunman targeted black men and women during a two hour shooting spree last week. we cannot accept that a person goes onto the streets to kill these are children people in the streets watching this man went to the streets to kill as many black people as possible i

don't know what to call it other than a racist and fascist act. in a police arrested a twenty eight year old white italian man they say was the suspected gunman. a video posted on local media shows the suspect wearing in italian flag around his neck at the time of the arrest. i think it's extremely important to be here today because the situation in italy seems very complicated so i don't think that politicians take enough notice of the phenomenon of the resurgence of fascism and. many are warning that anti immigration rhetoric has become part of the national dialogue they fear this sentiment will influence the upcoming national elections on march fourth others warned that racism is nothing new if you think. i have been faced with the problems of racism here since my primary school days there were children who called me a negro it is far from bring

a phenomenon that dates from yesterday or the day before with the shooting that took place there has always been racism here. the shooting in must follow the arrest of a nigerian man in connection with the murder of an eighteen year old italian woman . while many say politicians need to do something about the resurgence of the far right others believe it's inaccurate to lump all far right parties and politicians with the same label i believe d. far right and in general decent idea of fascist revival don't need to be shouldn't be exaggerated the far right is definitely wrong. days in any city but i believe especially abroad the reason a tendency to generalize and put a lot of parties into the same box which is not necessary the case. far right candidates call the influx of refugees out of control immigration. but

italy's prime minister has told us people hatred and violence will not be able to divide them. on al-jazeera. the philippines president roh rigger to turkey wants to change the constitution and switch to a new form of government he says it's a way to decentralize power to the regions and help alleviate poverty critics say is just a trick to keep government officials in jobs. small former philippines president for didn't marcus ruled with an iron fist for decades his martial rule was seen by many filipinos as oppressive in one thousand nine hundred eighty six the people power revolution removed him from office ushering in a new era of democracy the one nine hundred eighty seven philippine constitution was drafted with an emphasis on bringing about social justice past presidents have tried to change that constitution in the hope of prolonging their stay in power president reagan detector is making another attempt this time to change to

a federal form of government he wants to decentralize power from what he describes as an imperialistic monella and improve life for those living in rural areas no person should be deprived of life liberty or edgar's c.-a who helped draft the present constitution says it is not the form of government that is problematic but the quality of those people in government more than eighty percent of those elected officials come from political dynasties a federal form of government could help the remain in power it's hard to change for me. is a trojan horse because behind the effort to change the constitution or believe our transitory provisions were in fact there will be no elections or there can be a continued stay in office but most of those in congress say the election of the delta is proof that people want a decisive leader that can bring about radical change. in.

there is no assurance in any form of government because we are in a democracy this is a democratic society so how can we. the people who. do territories political party p.d.p. law ban has already drafted a proposed constitution but critics say the charter it is proposing is dictatorial in nature giving the president legislative powers and even allowing him to rule indefinitely a local survey shows the majority of filipinos have little or no knowledge of the constitution many are also unaware of the plans to amend the constitution this is what critics say is dangerous those who lead the transitional ensured that the nine hundred eighty seven philippine constitution they drafted would serve as event

guard restoring checks and balances within institutions so that power will never rest with one man alone jamil in dogon al jazeera manila. the world's biggest and most raucous street parties in full swing in brazil people are using the carnival to let off steam after a difficult year a struggling economy spiralling corruption investigations and deepening political divisions have all taken their toll in america and human reports now from the northeastern city of receive free. and early morning bugle call summons revelers on to the streets of the seething. it's called the rooster of the dawn the highlight of carnival in northeastern brazil's capital where least a million people parade past the giant bird. we had for carnival all year but something spectacular that's in all of our hearts here in parnham bercow where we hear and dance the rhythm of our region. above all the city.

where brass band music is accompanied by an acrobatic dance in a massive street party brazilians can forget their economic and political woes. its culture roots joy for people who've been suffering so much lately. carnival lasts for five days a period of unbridled revelry ending just before lent which on the christian calendar marks a forty day period of fasting and prayer carnival has since it first began here in india eighteen hundred. garnett was. born the way to prepare the way for the rest of iraq. and. after the emancipation of slavery and until this day it's become

a massive outdoor affair. it's a convo made up of so many people that just want to have fun. i'm looking. well lavish tampa schools millions of dollars often from questionable sources here it's all grass roots every neighborhood in household comes out to privy. to gung ho to all celebrate brazil's most traditional carnival. you see him and i just see that they see fit brazil. to check out the website it's always there for your top stories israel photogenic crush russian spoke regional tensions will recap that one for you in about five seconds. welcome if you're just joining us you're watching al-jazeera live from doha recapping your top stories israel says it's responded to the downing of one of its

planes by syrian government forces with its most significant attack on syria for decades the strikes targeted government sites and alleged iranian assets inside syria the u.n. secretary general has called for an immediate deescalation but the u.s. says israel has the right to defend itself mike hanna now from washington the state department appears to be convinced that iran is to blame for this round of combat that we've seen emerge over the course of this particular day a state department spokesperson has released a statement saying and i quote iran's calculated escalation of threat and its ambition to project power places the entire region at risk from she says yemen to lebanon. a turkish military helicopter has been shot down in northern syria during an operation against kurdish fighters this video is said to show the helicopter moments before it was hit the afrin killing two soldiers on board

kurdish led syrian democratic forces say it's fights a shot down the aircraft but turkey says the cause is still unclear a total of eleven took your soldiers were killed in the fighting on saturday making it the deadliest day for the country's forces since they began the campaign enough for in last month's north korea's olympic delegation has had a lunch meeting in seoul with the south korean prime minister lead that yong the group includes the sister of the north korean leader kim jong il and on saturday she extended a rare in detention to the south korean president to visit pyongyang talks on the sidelines of the winter games the votes are being counted in sri lanka or after its most peaceful election for decades it's the first vote since electoral laws changed allowing a record number of women to campaign for a seat in local government. thousands of demonstrators have rallied against racism in the italian city of much of a week after six africans were injured in a drive by shooting protesters warned of a revival of neo fascist sentiment during the campaign for next month's national

election and tourist racism rallies also took place in rome the land and. up next people in power a quick summary for you in about twenty five minutes see that. facing realities growing up when did you realize that you were living in a special place the so-called secret city getting to the heart of the matter why is activists to live in jail just because she expressed herself hear their story on talk to al-jazeera at this time in. recent elections most notably that's of donald trump as u.s. president of my logic the role played by social media in spreading malicious propaganda and fake news in this whole terms of cyber reality fiction becomes fact lies become truths and political consensus becomes almost impossible to achieve in

this.